Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice
by FieryArtemis
Summary: Marinette hasn't been able to help her dad a whole lot in the bakery since school started again. The pair catch up with a little father-daughter bonding. Pre-series!


Not much to say about this one. It was partially inspired after my oneshot, _Father Knows Best_. I wanted to explore Marinette's relationship with her father. This is the fluff that resulted from it.

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"You got a little something there." her father smiled. Marinette looked up from the bowl full of batter she was mixing. He pointed to at her nose. Marinette furrowed her eyebrows and touched her nose.

Nothing came away on her finger. "Where Papa?"

"Right…" Tom waved his spoon through the air in front of her face, "there!"

With a deliberate touch, her father bopped her nose with his spoon. Marinette's eyes went wide. "Papa!" she whined, jumping back.

Marinette sat her bowl down so she could scrub her nose with a towel. She glared at her father who was now in a full blown laughing fit. His entire form was shaking. Marinette stuck her lower lip out as she snatched her bowl again and started stirring again with renewed vigor. She was determined _not_ to give her father any other reaction to laugh at.

"Don't be angry with me sweetheart." he told her when he finally stopped laughing. Her father rested his hand on her shoulder. Marinette let her shoulders drop, feeling the familiar warmth and weight of his hand. "I was only joking with you."

"I know Papa." Marinette rolled her eyes.

"I've missed having you down in the bakery to help." he told her as he returned to the mixer that he'd been attending. Marinette eyed him warily but he seemed to have found a better use for his spoon than simply antagonizing her. He flipped the switch on the mixer, pulled the bowl out, and scraped the sides of it with his spoon. Tom pointed his elbow at a baking pan beside Marinette. "Bring me that will you please."

Marinette handed him the pan. He smiled brightly when he took it from her. "It's been so quiet without you since you started school this year."

"We both know that you've had mama here to help you. Don't act like you've been slaving away in the cold, lonely kitchen without company." laughed Marinette.

"Ah, very true but your mother never lets me get away with silly little things. She as observant as a hawk and you should see the way she looks at me. It's like she has eyes in the back of her head." Tom explained.

Marinette raised her eyebrow in question.

Her father pointed at her with a broad smile on his lips. "Yes! Just like that! You look so much like her."

Marinette dissolved into giggles, "Papa, you're being ridiculous. You probably deserve every look mama gives you."

"Maybe, but I still miss having you in the bakery with me. I still remember when you would help me out as a little girl. You were so tiny that you couldn't even reach the counter. I had to sit you right up here on the counter just so you could sift flour for me." Tom patted the counter with a loving hand.

"I miss being able to lick the spoon after you were done making cupcakes." Marinette replied. She looked at the chocolate covered spoon in her father's hand. She tried to keep the open longing down to a minimum but she wasn't terribly successful. Her father laughed a little under his breath and shook his head. He gently smoothed out the batter before handing her the spoon.

"Thank you Papa!" Marinette practically jumped to take it from him. His only response was to pat her head affectionately.

"So how's the new school year going?" he asked her as he placed the baking pan in the oven.

Marinette gave a shrug and cocked her head to the side. "It's going alright I guess." she answered without giving it much thought. She was more preoccupied with her spoon.

"Just alright?" her father probed. Marinette eyed him warily. There was something sneaky in his voice. She didn't quite trust it. He always used the voice right before launching into a serious amount of teasing.

"Yes…" Marinette replied, drawing the word out. Her eyes never left her father.

A giant grin spread across his face. He kneeled down and propped his head up on the counter with his hand. "Nothing new this year?"

"Um, I don't _think_ so."

"No new classmates?" he asked.

Oh. Oh! Marinette could practically feel the blood rushing to her face. _Oh_! She was beet red! "So who is it?" Tom pressed giving her a little eyebrow wiggle.

"No one Papa!" squawked Marinette.

"A new boy perhaps? With blonde hair as gold as sunshine and eyes green as emeralds?"

"Papa!" Marinette dropped the spoon in favor of covering her bright red face. She was going to kill Alya when she got her hands on her. Marinette _knew_ she shouldn't have told Alya that. She had to have been the one that had spilled that to her father. Her cruel, cruel father simply laughed. "It isn't like that!"

"Then why have you been wearing the new diamond necklace and earring set that your Mama and I bought you when you got your ears pierced this summer. You know the ones you told us vehemently were too 'fancy' to wear for everyday occasions."

"They are… but it's the first week of a new school year. That's an important thing right?"

"Fair enough sweetheart." he told her gently. They fell into quiet. Tom went around the bakery kitchen and collected the things he'd need for his next pastry. Marinette's cheeks finally returned to a less fire engine red colored tint. That was until her father shot her a look and asked, "So does this boy have a name?"

"Adrien…" Marinette murmured. She felt herself blush. Thankfully, it wasn't as hard this time around. Just a light pink tinge to her cheeks. "Adrien Agreste."

"He sounds like a nice boy." her father said. He ruffled her hair. "Will you grab the sugar for me so we can get started on the cookies then?"

"Of course Papa."


End file.
